Slugger Kendrys Morales remains a free agent, and many in the industry expect him to remain a free agent until after the draft in early June, when the draft pick compensation attached to Morales would vanish. However, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that Morales and the Orioles have been in discussions. A deal is not expected any time soon, if at all.

The Orioles have been in discussions with free agent first baseman/DH Kendrys Morales at several points over the past few weeks, though there’s said to remain a fairly significant gap in negotiations to date and the likelihood of a deal is unknown.

Baltimore is said to have scouted Morales multiple times in recent weeks, as it has a clear interest in the switch-hitting slugger, according to sources. However, the diffrence in dollars seems to remain fairly clear, as well.

Heyman adds that while the specific dollar amounts aren’t known, the two sides were discussing one-year deals.

The Orioles lost some pop in their lineup when Chris Davis landed on the disabled list with a strained left oblique. Players are lucky if they need just the minimum 15 days to deal with an oblique injury, so the Orioles may be preparing for a longer stint on the DL. Having signed free agents Nelson Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez — with similarly-attached draft pick compensation — in February, the Orioles showed they aren’t afraid to give up a draft pick to improve the team immediately.

Buchholz, 33, was acquired by the Phillies from the Red Sox in December 2016, but he made only two starts before an MRI revealed he had a partial tear of his right flexor pronator mass. He underwent surgery in April and missed the rest of the season.